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Veronica felt quite pleased with herself. At least here, she could feel that sense of clarity and authority that she often felt she lacked. It was nice to have someone ask [i]her[/i] what they should be doing next for a change.

“Well,” Veronica said. “I was hoping to grab a bit more to eat before we started up the search proper…” her thoughts were cut off by the appearance of a strange man. Even with his robes there was something wirey and wispy about him. He reminded her of her sister… or perhaps even her grandmother.

Veronica tilted her head as she finished looking the boy up and down. Mages with familiars? An oddly specific thing to look for, she thought. Then again…

“Funny,” Veronica mused. “We were looking for a certain mage ourselves…” Was Ashley even a mage? Or that girl? Their powers were so strange.

“I don't know of any mages with familiars,” the knightess continued. “But I can help you find a butcher, sure.” she tucked her hammer under her arm as she offered her free hand to the stranger.

“The name’s Veronica by the way,” she explained. “And that’s Tirnea. You know some magic yourself, I’m guessing?”

[hr]
Serena gave a quick smile as she watched the woman stutter out an answer. She was from Foji, all right.

“Thank you.” Serena said warmly. “Take care out there.” she watched the lady leave for a bit before she eventually began to head inside herself. She couldn’t wait too long, or she might find a reason to stop herself from having a drink at this hour.

And like clockwork, she heard the horrible sounds of a commotion. Hoof noises. Horse noises. Some sort of clattering. More cart troubles? Serena rushed outside, naginata at the ready. She looked around as the cart went along. Looked around for any trace of [i]them[/i]. She only saw the woman from before, and the way she cloaked herself in shadow as she sped out of the way of the cart, bumping into the fence and dropping something from her pouch for her troubles. Serena’s eyebrow raised at that. Was she really from Foji? Though she supposed that there wasn’t any reason to follow the Emperor’s laws so far from the country if one did not care for them. Serena certainly didn’t, when she was young. 

She scanned the area for any actual threat before she finally relaxed, smiling as she watched the lady curse at the cart driver. She supposed that confirmed where she was from, if nothing else.

“I think you may have dropped something.” Serena said with a half-smile. as she approached the woman, looking at the dirt beneath her feet. “Should I tell you take care again? You seem to have given that fencepost quite the beating.”

[hr]

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Rebecca’s eyes widened somewhat when Calieo snapped at her, the researcher’s hand reflexively raised in front of her own mouth. The outburst was almost funny and cute, if she wasn’t also armed and waving her weapon around like a maniac. Still, her rant contained something of interest.

“Well,” Rebecca muttered. “That sounds like Nethergate, I guess…” she shot Chambala a questioning look as the fur-clad woman patted her shoulder. Did she not believe her? It didn’t seem like too big of a deal, either way. The discussion turned towards how they were actually going to get across the river. In particular, if they could simply throw each other across.

“I think if you just threw someone across the river,” Rebecca said. “You would end up with a lot of unwanted attention from some soldiers making sure no one gets any funny ideas about sending troops across the stream anyways… In fact, it’s a pretty good idea to stay away from the river until we’re a good ways downstream from the bridge.” She could maybe talk herself out of trouble alone, but she didn't have the slightest chance of being able to explain away her travelling companions to any Loyalitat patrol with the slimmest spark of intelligence.

She straightened her cap and put a hand to her chin as she tried to figure things out. If push came to shove, she could [i]maybe[/i] just shoot herself across to safety with her launcher before she found a patrol or limped her way back to civilization, but one slip could just as easily leave her in the river. This would all be so much easier if the Choir just waited to press forwards into Loyalitat until she got back…

Rebecca let out a sigh.